Currently, most hospital beds, specialized beds, and patient transfer beds (hereinafter “hospital beds”) are moved manually by people. Hospital beds are moved with regularity, because there is less physical effort required to move the entire bed than to lift the patient off the bed, onto a gurney bed, and then move the patient and gurney bed to another room, where they must again lift them back onto a bed. Due to the weight of the typical hospital bed, the force required to move the bed through long corridors, up and down ramps, or over carpeting requires the application of force that exceeds a safe workload. As a result, a significant number of injuries occur to persons that move hospital beds each year. A typical hospital bed weighs between 400 and 2000 pounds, depending on the style of the bed and the weight of the patient in the bed.
Under current procedures associated with moving hospital beds, the mover pushes on the edges of the bed mattress or on handles located on the headboard or footboard of the bed. All of these must be above waist level (approximately four feet above ground level). This pushing requires the mover to use the legs, hips, back, arms and hands. These areas of the body can be susceptible to injury from over-exertion. These injuries can cause lost work time and long-term health problems for the movers, and they cause added expenses for the hospitals. The persons that will typically move the hospital beds are often nurses. Such movement of these hospital beds can contribute to already high rate of nurse workplace injuries. This is typically not a task that nurses enjoy.
Presently, there is a very great demand for the use of bariatric beds. These bariatric beds are constructed so as to withstand a weight of an extremely heavy person thereon. Certain of these bariatric hospital beds have the capacity to handle patients having a weight of up to 1,200 pounds. The popularity of the bariatric surgery procedures has contributed to an increased demand for such bariatric beds. Whenever these bariatric beds have the very heavy person positioned thereon, the difficulty in moving the hospital bed from one location to another is exacerbated.
There is a need in the art for an electrically-powered hospital bed drive apparatus so as to facilitate and assist in the moving of hospital beds in the hospital environment. These power-driven hospital beds must work in conjunction with a wide range of hospital beds presently in existence and eliminate much of the physical force required to move and steer the beds safely.
In the past, various patents have issued relating to such power-assist devices for hospital beds. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0084116, published on Jul. 4, 2002 to Ruschke et al., describes a motorized propulsion system for a bed. The propulsion system is detachably coupled to a patient support to permit storage of the propulsion system or use on the propulsion system on multiple patient supports. In particular, the propulsion system is a separate hand-held device that has a motorized pair of wheels connected to a bottom thereof. Suitable hitching mechanisms are provided on the device so as to allow the device to be directly connected to a frame of a hospital bed.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/1034692, published on Jul. 15, 2004 to Kime et al., describes a freestanding self-propelled device for moving hospital beds. The device includes a chassis having a lower frame portion and an upper frame portion. A single motor-driven drive wheel is centrally located between the lateral end of the chassis and coupled to the chassis so as to be pivotal about a substantially vertical axis. The drive wheel is located between sets of support wheels coupled to the lower frame portion of the chassis.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,024, issued on Apr. 8, 1975 to Shieman et al., shows a motorized vehicle for moving hospital beds. This vehicle includes telescoping wheeled carriage assemblies that are dimensioned to fit under a hospital bed. The first carriage assembly includes a traction wheel which is driven by a battery-powered electric motor. This second carriage assembly supports brackets for rigidly attaching the vehicle to a bed. A removable, tiltable control handle is used for operating the electric motor through a control circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,406, issued on May 7, 1996 to Foster et al., discloses a modular hospital bed and method of patient handling. Various bed handling devices are described for use in detachable connection to the frame of the bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,207, issued on Dec. 3, 1996 to Kiebooms et al., shows a device for moving beds that includes a movable frame, a lifting mechanism that can cooperate with the underframe of a bed, and a steering mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,956, issued on Apr. 27, 2004 to G. Lemire, provides a fifth wheel for a bed. This fifth support assembly has a frame with a plurality of floor-engaging wheels mounted thereon. A housing is configured for movement relative to the frame. A spring mechanism is oriented between the frame and the housing so as to continually urge the housing toward the floor. An auxiliary wheel is mounted for rotation on an axle secured to the housing. A drive motor mechanism is provided and is fastened between the frame and the housing to effect a raising and a lowering of the housing and the auxiliary wheel mounted thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,421, issued on May 4, 2004 to Gluck et al., shows a motor-assist gurney unit. This unit includes a gurney, a detachable power unit for propelling the gurney and a docking unit. The motor-assisted unit is usable with a plurality of gurneys. The unit includes a power supply having a plurality of sockets which are adapted to engage one of a plurality of engagement pins. The power unit is steerable and includes a power supply, at least one drive wheel, a drive system, a steering column with handlebars attached substantially perpendicular thereto, and a plurality of idler wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,834,402, issued on Dec. 28, 2004 to Hanson et al., teaches a combination bed mover and patient transfer apparatus. The patient transport apparatus includes a patient support mover configured to move a patient support relative to the floor and a patient transfer apparatus configured to move a patient from a first position on the patient support to a second position on the patient support.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,714, issued on Mar. 29, 2005 to D. Johnson, provides a hospital bed power-assist device. This device comprises a body, a motor-driven wheel coupled to the body, and a hitch coupled to the body and adapted for engaging the hospital bed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a power-assist device for a hospital bed which allows the hospital worker to move the bed in a controlled and efficient manner.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a power-assist device for a hospital bed that allows the hospital worker to move the hospital bed in a safe manner.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a power assist device for a hospital bed that is easy to attach to existing hospital beds.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a motor assist device for a hospital bed that facilitates the use and manipulation of bariatric beds within the hospital environment.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a power assist device for a hospital bed that has wheels that resiliently contract the underlying floor and adapt to undulations in the underlying surface.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a power assist device for a hospital bed which is easy to use, relatively inexpensive, and easy to manufacture.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the reading of the attached specification and appended claims.